September 2011 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

LVB Tracker USB serial port driver for Windows 7 x64?
by Bill Bordy, NJ1H 22 Dec '16

22 Dec '16

Has anyone located a driver for the LVB Tracker internal USB to serial port adapter on Windows 7 x64? If not, has anyone reverted to the serial port connection on LVB Tracker and used an external USB to serial port adapter successfully with SatPC32 on Windows 7 x64? I have an Edgeport multiple USB to serial port that has drivers for Windows 7 x64 that I will use if I have to. I would prefer using the LVB Tracker with its USB to serial adapter if someone has another solution. 73, Bill NJ1H

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AO-16 telemetry 3 Oct 2010
by Mark L. Hammond 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

Hi All, Here is a quick AO-16 update. On Sunday I turned AO-16 long enough to get some telemetry packets. The satellite would remain on for less than one minute after being commanded on. A quick test of the "bent pipe" voice mode repeater was successful. . The "hardware watchdog timer problem" is still evident; as expected, spacecraft temperatures are insufficient to keep the transmitter ON (needs to be above 15 deg C). Orbit projections suggest that satellite illumination conditions will not result in increased temperatures for nearly 10 years. Command stations do periodically turn AO-16 "ON" to check on its condition and see if the hardware timer problem has "automagically" fixed itself (which in not anticipated, but who knows...). AO-16 telemetry 3 Oct 2010 1838 utc PACSAT MBL Telemetry Decoder Ver. 1.3 (c) Mike Rupprecht, DK3WN =============================================================================== (average values) +10V Battery Bus : 0.00 V Battery Charge Reg : 0.55 mA Base Temp : 9.07 °C PSK RF Out : 1.90 W +5V RX Bus : 4.87 V +8.5V RX Bus : 8.49 V +10V RX Bus : 11.24 V Here is another teaser :) Several months ago I commanded the AO-16 S-band transmitter ON; it too remains functional (albeit weak), and was received by me, Drew KO4MA, and Alan WA4SCA. 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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Call for Papers--2007 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference
by Ford, Steve, WB8IMY 16 Jul '12

16 Jul '12

Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 26th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference to be held September 28-30, 2007 in Hartford, Connecticut. These papers will also be published in the Conference Proceedings (you do NOT need to attend the conference to have your paper included in the Proceedings). The submission deadline is July 31, 2007. Please send papers to: Maty Weinberg ARRL 225 Main St Newington, CT 06111 or you can make your submission via e-mail to: maty(a)arrl.org Papers will be published exactly as submitted and authors will retain all rights. 73 . . . Steve, WB8IMY ARRL

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Re: EggBeater
by Bill Dzurilla 29 May '12

29 May '12

Steve, I have both a commercial and a homebrew Eggbeater and am disappointed with both, especially in light of its rather high price. Connected to my IC-7000 via an ARR mast-mounted preamp, performance is far less than with an HT and an Arrow. Guess an omni can't cut it, at least not from my QTH. Maybe if I could get it up higher, clear of all roofs, it would do better. I can make contacts at relatively high sat elevations, but can do just as well with a $10 dual band ground plane. My friend has an Eggbeater and the same preamp at a clearer QTH, and he hears substantially better, down to 10 degrees elevation in some directions. Good luck and 73, Bill NZ5N > > Hi Steve, > > > > It is surprising to read that you are not hearing > anything. I have > > repeatedly used a 2m and 70cm Eggbeater for the sats > and have had no > > problem hearing things. No pre-amp. > > > > I was using a short cable (e.g. less than 10 meters). > The rigs I > > used were a FT-736r (deaf) and a FT-847 (so-so). > > > > 73, > > > > Dave

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SoCal to East Texas
by Eric Fort 04 Nov '11

04 Nov '11

A Technician class friend of mine and I would like to ragchew between His QTH in Lindale, TX (32.495164 N, 95.513233 W) and My QTH in Phelan, CA (34.436400 N, 117.468649 W) with the exception of oscar 0 is anything flying that would enable this on a frequency above 50MHZ? Thanks, Eric AF6EP

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Re: Response to my request of information about EduSatfrom GAUSS team in Rome: Re: [CubeSat] Edusat operative or failure
by Fabio Azzarello 17 Oct '11

17 Oct '11

Hello, just to add a bit of information... can refer to the following links: https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=112305 http://www.imtsrl.it/s_band.html Hope this helps, 73s Fabio IW8QKU/5

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Working HO-68
by Richard Lawn 16 Oct '11

16 Oct '11

Doing what I try to do every vacation which is try to spend a little time back on the birds. I've yet to have a QSO on HO-68. I hear the beacon just fine. But I just finished my 2nd pass from NJ and was unable to hear any signals let alone myself coming back on any mode. Did I misread the operating schedule or am I doing something wrong? MacDoppler told me there was a good pass to this part of the world are around 21:30 my time. Great beacon strength but nobody else was home. Rick W2JAZ

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EM25 / EM26 - Sep 29th
by Gail A Mcdaniel 08 Oct '11

08 Oct '11

I will be making a quick trip to Arkansas tomorrow and will try working the following passes depending on weather... SO-50 - 09/29/2011 @ 1726z - EM25 AO-27 - 09/29/2011 @ 1743z - EM25 AO-27 - 09/29/2011 @ 1919z - EM26 possibly EM25/26 grid boundary. 73, Gail - KB0RZD

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AMSAT-UK - Fall OSCAR News
by Trevor . 01 Oct '11

01 Oct '11

AMSAT-UK - Fall OSCAR News The Fall edition of the color A4 newsletter OSCAR News is being posted to AMSAT-UK members this week As usual it's packed with Amateur Satellite articles: - Haven't Got A Callsign - regular column by Clive Wallis G3CWV - Memories of working Astronaut Helen Sharman GB1MIR by Chris Lorek G4HCL - Louis Varney Cup Presentation to Paul Robinson 2E1EUB - ARISSat-1 Reception - USA NTIA WRC proposal for an ITU "Educational" Satellite Service - ARISSat Update - FUNcube Testing at RAL - Syncart geostationary transponder - Report on First UK National Space Conference 2011 - FUNcube Project Report - KiwiSAT Current Status - IARU Region 1 Sun City Report - 2011 Colloquium Report - QB50 Latest News To receive this copy of OSCAR News join AMSAT-UK online at http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK/ If you've never seen OSCAR News before you can get an idea of what it's like by downloading a sample issue from http://www.uk.amsat.org/on_193_final.pdf AMSAT-UK http://www.uk.amsat.org/ ---- 73 Trevor M5AKA

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Width of the Earth's penumbra
by John Heath 01 Oct '11

01 Oct '11

This bb never fails to amaze me with how helpful folks can be. It was G0SFJ's postings about ARISSAt-1 MET time which set me thinking about the width of the half shadow (Penumbra) experienced by the satellite before and after eclipse. I was pointed to the simulation option in the satellite tracker Orbitron 3.17 which shows the selected satellites Eclipse condition No, Penumbra, Umbra. To activate this option click on the data tab at the bottom of the satellite listing. The simulation mode offers a variety of time steps down to 0.25 seconds. Selecting the ISS and stepping through an eclipsed part of the orbit tonight I estimated that it took the ISS 8.75 seconds to cross the Penumbra. If 7km per second is about right for the ISS then the Penumbra is 59.5 kilometres wide +/- about 1.75km. My workings may well be adrift but you get the idea. What an interesting utility, for us telemetry nuts it will add an extra dimension to solar panel data. Off to try it on some higher flying birds. 73 All G7HIA Happy Weekend

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